Humidifying apparatus.



F. W. PARKS.

HUMIDIFYING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AuG.29. WK;-

1 ,227, 1 90. Patented May 22, 1917.

, Frederick W. ParKS' UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK W. PARKS, OF FITCHIBURG', MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE G. M.

PARKS COMPANY, OF FITCHIBURG, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSA- CHUSETTS.

' HUMIDIFYING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patent d M 22, 1917.

Application filed August 29, 1913. Serial No. 787,382.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK W. PARKS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fitchburg, county of Worcester, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Humidifying Apparatus, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relates to a humidifying apparatus of that type in which the humidifying heads are operated by gas under pressure, such for instance as compressed air or steam, and take the water from a source of supply which is not under pressure, and it has for its object to provide an apparatus of this type adapted for humidifying a small room and which can be easily installed without the necessity of a K large amount of sity of any elaborate piping system that I have made my present invention, the features of which will be more fully hereinafter described and then pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawings wherein I have illustrated a selected embodiment of my invention which is sufiicient to give a complete understanding thereof Flgure 1 1s an elevation of a device embodying my 1 nvention, said figure showing more or less diagrammatically a pump for maintaining the air pressure in the air-receivlng compartment of the device;

Fig. 2 is a diametrical section through a tank involving my invention; I

Fig. 3 is a plan View of the tank w1th the float and valves omitted.

My invention can be used with any humidifying head operating by compressed gas and taking water from a source not under pressure, and for the sake of illustra tion I have shown it as used in connection w1th a humidifying head similar to that descrlbed in United States Patent No. 869,945, dated November 3,1907. The h'umidifying head illustrated in said patent has a chamber into which compressed air is admitted tangentially, and a water inlet connected to a source of water not under pressure, said water and air inlets having such a relation to each other that the jet of air delivered into'the chamber draws water through the water inlet and causes it to be delivered from the head in the form of vapor. Inasmuch, however, as my invention does not relate to the headitselt and can be used with any compressed air head using water not under.

pressure, I have not deemed it necessary to the heads, a plurality of which are shown at 1. It is sufiicient to say that these headsare provided with a chamber into which a jet of air is delivered through an air inlet pipe 2, said heads having a water inlet with which a water inlet pipe 3 communicates and also having an outlet port 4 through which the vaporized'water is delivered.

In devising a humidifying apparatus capable of use in a small room I have provided a tank having a water-receiving compartment and a closed compartment adapted to contain compressed 'air or other compressed gas and have arranged one-or more humidifying heads so that the air inlet pipe 2 of each head communicates with the closed chamber and the water inlet pipe 3 leads into the water-receiving chamber. There arevarious ways in which a tank having these two compartments and adapted to support humidifying heads can be constructed. In the preferred embodiment of my invention I employ a tank 5 having a centralwater-receiving chamber 6 which is herein shown as closed at the top by a removable cover 20, and an annular chamber 7 which is arranged concentrically of the chamber 6 but exterior thereto and which is adapted to receive the compressed air or other compressed gas. The water may be supplied to the chamber 6 in any suitable way and as 105 which the surplus may be supplied with air or other gas under pressure'through a supply pipe 11. A tank of this nature is adapted for supporting one or more humidifying heads and in the present embodiment I have shown six heads supported by the tank and arranged radially thereof, the inlet pipe 2 of each humldifying head being shown as communicating with the chamber 7 through the top wall thereof.

10 The.water inlet pipe 3 is shown as passing through the wall 21 of the water chamber 6, above the closed chamber 7 and as extending nearly to the bottom of said chamber. The compressed air in the chamber 7 is delivered through the pipes 2 to the heads 1 thus producing a suction in said headswhich draws water from the chamber 6 through the water inlet pipes 3, this water being delivered from the heads in the form ofa mist or vapor.

The tank 5 may be supported in any suitable position in the room in which it is to be used. In order to facilitate its attachment to the ceiling or to some other support,

5 said tank is provided with bosses 14 adapted to receive bolts by which the device can be secured to a ceiling or other support.

I have shown at 16 a compressor for pumping air into the chamber '7 through the supply pipe 11 and in order to keep the compressor cool I have connected the jacket thereof with the chamber 6 by pipes 17 and 18, so as to be able to make use of the water in the chamber 6 for absorbing the heat of 5 compression developed in the compressor.

Some types of small compressors furnish compressed air which is highly impregnated with oil, this being due to the oil which is used in the cylinder. The use of compressed air containing oil in a humidifying head is objectionable because the oil is very apt to clog up the ducts and passages in the head and thus interfere with the proper operation of the device.

5 In order to provide a device in which the air which is delivered to the humidifying heads is free fromoil', I propose to employ a filtering (18"108 which is interposed between the compressor and the individual humidi- 5 fying heads, which filtering device operates to remove the oil from the air. \Vhile various devices of this nature may be employed without departing from the invention, I have illustrated herein a simple construction which meets the requirements of use. This construction involvesa plurality of separate filters, one-for each humidifying head, said filters being received in the chamber 7 and situated so that the air must pass through- 0 them in passing to the inlet pipes 2. The filter herein shown comprises a. tube 23 which is filled with cotton waste, or. other filtering material and which is secured to the upper wall of the chamber 7, said tube 5 being herein shown as provided with a head 24 which issecu red into the wall. The inlet pipe 2 is secured to a bushing or member 25., which in turn screws into the top .of the tube 23. At the lower end of each filtering tube, I have shown a screen in the form of wire gauze 27 and at the upper end I employ a removable screen 31 which may also be in the form of wire gauze.

Instead of individual filters for the separate humidifying heads, I may if desired, use a single filter common to all the humidifying heads.

I have herein shown a valve for controlling the supply of air to each of thehumidi-- fying heads, these valves-being independent 30 from each other so that the individual heads may be turned off or turned on separately as desired. These valves which may have any suitable construction are shown at 12 and are situated in the air inlet pipe 2, each 5 valve having a handle 32 by which it may be operated.

It is sometimes desirable to be able to adjust the angular position of the humidifying heads to meet requirements of use and in 9 order to permit this to be done, I propose to .employ a union 33 in each air inlet pipe 2 and also another union 34 between each humidifying head and the valve 12. By loosening) these unions, the humidifying head can e turned so that'the discharge openings 4 thereof will be directed at different elevations and in different directions horizontally, the two unions 33 and 34 forming a universal joint. It will be noted that the openings 35 through the wall 21 of the water tank are sufficiently large to permit the required adjustment of the pipe 3.

It will be noted that my improved device is self-contained as all the huinidifying 1 5' heads are mounted on a single tank and as a consequence very little piping is required, it only being necessary to connect the tank with the water supply pipe, with the overflow pipe, with the air pipe 11 and with the 0 circulating pipes 17 and 18. Moreover, this tank. with its cluster of humidifying heads can be readily placed in any desired spot in the room. This apparatus is especially useful for humidifying comparatively small rooms where it is not necessary that the humidifying heads should be widely separated. Another advantage of my construction is that I. have embodied in a single device the water supply for the humidifying heads, the 12 support for said heads, the water supply for the cylinder jacket of the compressor, the receiving tank for the air compressor, the I after-cooler for cooling the compressed airand the filter for filtering the air." By thus providing a single device capable of performing all these different functions, I am able to materially reduce the cost' of 0011 structing a humldifying apparatus.

I desire to call attention to the fact that in the construction herein illustrated, the chamber 7 which constitutes both the receiving tank for the air compressor and the after-cooler for cooling the compressed air has its inner walls Water cooled andits outer walls air cooled. The tank 7 also constitutes a storage capacity for any oil and water which are condensed out of the compressed air and to provide for drawing off any liquid condensed in said chamber I have provided a drip cook 36 which may be connected with the overflow pipe 10 if desired. I find also that it is of advantage to place the filter between the after-cooler for the compressor and the humidifying heads because the cooling of the air in the chamber '2' results in condensing any oil which may be carried over into said chamber with the air and the placing of the filter in the position shown so that the air passes through it after it has been cooled in the chamber 7 results in a better filtration and purification of the air than if the filter were placed between the chamber 7 and the compressor 16. a

While I have illustrated herein the preferred embodiment of my invention I do not wish to be limited to the constructional features shown.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a humidifying apparatus, the combination with a tank having a central water-receiving compartment and a separate closed compartment encircling the waterreceiving compartment, said water-receiving compartment extending above the closed compartment, means to maintain air under pressure in the closed compartment. a selfcontained compressed-air-actuated humidifying head mounted on top of and connected to the closed compartment, a water inlet pipe extending from said head into the water-receiving compartment. and means to maintain the water level in the water-receiving compartment at a point slightly below that of the hnmidifying head.

2. In a humidifying apparatus, the combination with a tank having two concentric compartments, the exterior one of which is closed and the central one of which is opentopped and extends above the exterior compartment, means to supply water to the central compartment and to maintain the water level therein at a point above the exterior compartment, means to supply air under pressure to the exterior compartment, a plurality of self-contained compressed-airactuated humidifying heads supported on said closed compartment and connected thereto, and a Water inlet pipe leading from each head into the water-containing com partment.

3. In a humidifying apparatus, the combination with a tank having two concentric compartments, the exterior one of which is closed and the central one of which is open topped, means to supply water to the central compartment and to maintain a predeter mined water level therein, means to supply compressed air to the exterior compartment, a plurality of self-contained compressed-airactuated humidifying heads, and means supporting said heads on the closed compartment, which means permits the position of the heads to be adjusted angularly and provides a communication between said closed compartment and the heads, and water inlet pipes communicating with said heads and leading into the water-receiving compartment.

4. In a humidifying apparatus, the combination with a tank having a central waterreceiving chamber and an exterior concentric closed compartment for receiving compressed air, of a plurality of self-contained compressed-air-actuated humidifying heads sustained by said tank and communicating with the closed compartment, water inlet pipes communicating with said heads and leading into the water-receiving compartment, a jacketed pump for maintaining the air pressure in the closed compartment and two circulating pipes connecting the jacket of said pump to the water-receiving compartment, whereby a circulation of water from said compartment to the jacket and back to the compartment again will be established.

5. In a humidifying apparatus, the combination with a tank divided to present a water-receiving compartment and a compressed air-compartment, of means to maintain water at a predetermined level in the water-receiving compartment, means to maintain air under pressure in the compressed air compartment, a plurality of independent self-contained compressed-air-actuated humidifying heads, means supporting each head on the tank, which means permits the position of said head to be adjusted angularly and provides a communication between the head and each compartment in the tank, and a valve for each head whereby FREDERICK w. PARKS.

WVitnesses:

ROBERT S. PARKS, WARREN E. BROOKS. 

